In episode 161 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the business of photography, the death of editorial photography, positive thinking and the importance of learning from experience.

Plus this week photographer Jeremy Nicholl takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Born in Northern Ireland in 1957, Jeremy Nicholl was inspired to become a photographer by a combination of his school library’s collection of Picture Post magazines, and seeing the news coverage surrounding his teenage years during 'The Troubles' in 1970s Northern Ireland printed in newspapers – especially the Sunday Times and Observer. He began his career in London, rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the UK's leading news photographers. In 1986 he was invited to join a proposed new national newspaper, the Independent, becoming a core member of an award winning editorial team. In 1989 he left the paper to concentrate on longer term documentary photography, and since 1991 has specialised in reportage from across Russia and the Former Soviet Union, while taking time out to work on assignment photography and personal projects elsewhere. Nicholl's work has appeared in a wide range of publications around the world and been shown at numerous international festivals and exhibitions. He has also won a number of awards, including World Press Photo and Interfoto, Russia's leading contest for professional photographers. In addition to his assignments for leading international publications he is known for generating his own projects. Best known for classical photojournalism, in recent years Nicholl has extended his interests to medium format portraiture and is now based in the Soviet Union. www.jeremynichollarchive.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained(Routledge 2014)The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography(Routledge 2015)New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography(Routledge 2019)

Grant's book 'What Does Photography Mean to You?' (Bluecoat Press) including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99

Grant Scott 2021